New Addition
by SleevedWhiteSnow
Summary: Tifa has news. Cloud's not quite getting it...


**AN: A silly idea that came out of nowhere really, but couldn't resist writing it. Italics are character thoughts. And the setting is some time after Advent Children. Enjoy :)**

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New Addition

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"Cloud."

Tifa's voice was calm as it drifted into her husband's study and he didn't pay it any response as he tossed his gloves on the desk, instead sinking into his chair. But as he stretched back, she called his name again, this time with greater urgency.

 _"Cloud."_

"What is it?" he replied drowsily, stifling a yawn.

"Could you come here for a minute?"

"Hm? I just came in. Could you give me a mo-"

 _"Cloud Strife!"_

The Ex-SOLDIER got up slowly and dragged himself down the hall towards the direction of Tifa's voice - the bathroom. He entered to find her grinning up at him, oblivious to the strange expression occupying her face. "Yes?"

"How would you feel about a new addition to the family?"

Cloud gazed back sleepily, taking in the aromatic fragrance of her perfume as she stepped closer. His day had consisted mostly of grease and diesel fumes in Cid's hanger, and although he personally loved the smell he had to say it was nothing in comparison to the heavenly scent of his wife.

He voiced this aloud and received a light thump on the chest. "Don't be cheesy, you sap," Tifa smirked. "And answer the question."

Cloud scratched the back of his neck, a usual habit of perplexion. "A new addition? What do you mean?"

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Kids, silly. Doesn't take a genius to figure that."

"Kids…?" he said slowly. "What's brought this up?"

"Just answer the question already."

Cloud's brow furrowed in suspicion but Tifa only scowled back at him. "How do I feel about kids?" he repeated. "Well you know I love Marlene, Denzel and you more than anything."

Tifa folded her arms across her chest as she usually did when she was waiting for deeper clarification, and Cloud stared back dazedly for a few more seconds before his brain cells finally made a connection. A grin broke out across his face.

"Another addition, huh? You know I'd love that, Tifa."

He reached around her waist and pulled her into a hug, receiving a more passionate reaction than expected. Then again, Tifa always got super excited over things such as family, even more so than most people. But the spiky-haired swordsman had to admit, this news was quite exciting for him too.

"So when do we all get to meet him? Or have the kids met him already?" Cloud was surprised when she pulled back and shot him a questioning look in response.

"I mean... _her?"_ he offered uncertainly. But his wife only stared back at him, her left eyebrow receding further into her hairline.

Tifa searched his eyes for a moment, then sighed inwardly as she realized what he must be thinking. _Ohhhhh. An orphan..._ He thought she had brought home another _orphan._

She refrained from breaking out of Cloud's grip, deciding to humor him instead. "No, not yet."

"So you didn't bring her home with you?" That was strange, Cloud thought, wondering for what other reason she had called him out of his office so urgently the second he'd arrived. "She's not here right now?"

"Technically, I guess you could say no…" Tifa smirked at the look on his face.

Cloud blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, in reality she _is_ here with us… or he…"

"Huh?"

"Only, they're not ready to meet everyone just yet."

"Oh. How come?"

"It's kind of like you said before," Tifa continued, her smirk widening. "I brought them home with me, you see. But they're not entirely here right now."

Her husband frowned. What the hell was she on about? And why was she referring to the orphan as 'them' like she didn't know what gender they were? Perhaps he had misunderstood her original question.

"Tifa… when you asked what I thought about kids, were you just wanting to know my opinion in _general?"_

Tifa cocked her head to the side. "Why would I ask that, especially now of all times?"

Cloud hesitated. They'd been together for three years after all, married for the last one, and informally adopted at least _one_ orphan – if Marlene isn't counted in that equation, though she's still technically _living_ with them – and now Tifa randomly decides to ask him a question like that?

"Well… _is_ there a new addition to the family? Or are you just pulling my leg?"

"There is. But this one's a little different."

Cloud's confusion only magnified to her amusement.

 _A different addition._ From kids... or maybe she meant… _kids..._ "Did you get a goat?"

Tifa physically fought back her laughter out of respect for the seriousness in his tone. Of all the conclusions one could reach from her reply, he managed to come up with _that?_ "No, silly, of course not. We don't have the right place for a goat! And Denzel's already allergic to Cait, remember?"

"Oh, right. No pets." Cloud scratched the back of his head sheepishly. So it definitely was the kind of 'kid' he'd originally thought. "So... different... as in they're not like Denzel and Marlene?"

Tifa nodded. Well, that much was obvious…

Cloud sighed when he didn't get any further response from her. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? Making me guess."

"Maybe," she teased. "You're getting warmer though."

"So I take it you're not going to be nice by just coming out and telling me how you met them?"

For some reason, Tifa's face went bright red at his question. Cloud lifted an eyebrow. "Okay… so you brought them home with you, and now they're here but they're also _not_ here, they're a he or a she, and they're... 'different.'"

"Yup. And they're not a goat."

Now it was his turn to blush as he realized how stupid that thought was, but- urgh, she wasn't making any sense... How could a person adopt someone and bring them home but the kid wasn't 'entirely' here? And on top of that, _genderless?!_

Unless…

Unless... she was...

Cloud's eyes widened as the pieces came together in his mind.

 _Finally,_ Tifa thought, the initial excitement she'd had at his arrival returning tenfold. She opened her mouth to break the nervous silence but her husband beat her to it.

"Got it! So the adoption's not official yet," he stated, causing her elation to vanish and astonishment to once again take its place.

 _"What?"_

"They're here and they're not here," Cloud continued thoughtfully, speaking mostly to himself, "because they're here in documents but not in _person_ … and you haven't actually met them yourself, which is why you don't know if they're a boy or a girl… Yeah, that makes sense…"

Tifa mentally face-palmed.

"...and because they're not here right now, that means they're somewhere else, which means they're currently either staying with someone else or they're in their own home… but if they are there all alone there without their parents, then-"

"Their parents are _alive,_ Cloud," Tifa groaned in disbelief.

"-I wonder if they're really doing okay and why you didn't just- wait, what did you say?"

"They're _alive_ ," Tifa repeated, somewhere between amused and resisting the urge to hit him for his ridiculous conclusions.

"Then why…?" _Oh, so we must only be looking after them temporarily,_ Cloud answered himself in thought. _Of course. Like Barret and Marlene._ Which meant it would have to be someone they were well acquainted with-

But none of their friends had children, so... "Do we know them?"

 _"Yes."_

"...And? Who are they?"

Tifa hesitated for a moment, a familiar warmth flooding her cheeks again. "Well, the father's standing in front of me…"

"And the moth-?" Cloud broke off, eyes widening as she stepped closer to him, grinning wider than ever.

Oh.

 _Ohhhhhh._

"Wait, what?"

Tifa leant her forehead against his, the tips of their noses touching.

"Y-you're saying that– you mean you're–"

"Pregnant?" she whispered against his lips. "Yup."

"You mean... I'm going to be a _father?_

She nodded.

"I'm actually going to be... I'm going to be a real _father?"_

Before she could respond again, Cloud crushed their lips together and pulled her against him tightly, his enthusiasm surprising her.

"I'm going to be a father... And you're going to be a mom... Shit, Tifa, we're going to be _parents!"_

Tifa laughed as he pulled back, repeating his words over and over again as if to reassure himself that this really was happening, each time saying them with more delight than the last.

"Yeah, we are," she said, matching his excitement. "Took you long enough." For someone who took so long to get it, Cloud sure had a quick reaction. He seemed to be accepting the reality even faster than _she_ was. Tifa hadn't thought him even capable of showing so much eagerness over anything. The concept itself was just so... _foreign_ with him. But she understood how much this meant to him – moving from a past littered with anguish into a future that held so much joy… It meant so much to both of them.

A few years back they wouldn't even have been able to dream it with the darkness that had tormented them for so long, but now it was _reality,_ an amazing, blissful miracle – they were creating a new life together!

"But Tifa…" Cloud said after a while, breaking her thoughts. "You never did answer my initial question."

"And what was that?"

"When do I get to meet them?"

"That's what I was going to tell you before, idiot. Eight and a half months from now, give or take a week."

"Damn. That's too-"

Tifa cut him off by placing a finger over his lips. "If you say it's too long to wait after all _that,_ then I'm seriously going to hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Cloud gave her a silly grin. "You'll be out of action 'til then."

"I'll be _out of action?_ Don't be ridiculous."

"Uh... yeah you will."

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't kick your ass, Cloud."

"Of course it does. You'll be big soon, then you'll hardly be able to walk, right? Let alone fight."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "You know what, forget it." She'd humored him enough for the day.

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 **Thanks for reading. Leave a review/criticism if you have the time :)**


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